Syria's Assad faces toughest challenges of nine-year war

Syrian President Bashar Assad is confronting the biggest challenges to his hold on power since Syrians first rose up against him nine years ago as a rift within his family, a collapsing economy and rising tensions with his key ally Russia lay bare the fragility of his government.

The rebels now squeezed into one last corner of Syria no longer pose any threat, and there are no other serious contenders for the presidency of a country that has been ruled by the Assad family for the past 50 years.

But cracks are starting to appear in the once-united front presented by loyalists who stood by Assad throughout his battle to crush the opposition. A rare eruption of criticism in Russian media outlets has drawn attention to his dependence on foreign allies – Iran as well as Russia – for his survival.

Most important, an imploding economy is driving Syrians into poverty on a scale unprecedented in recent history. Neither Russia nor Iran is in a position to inject the billions of dollars Syria needs to rebuild and revive, yet Assad continues to reject the political reforms that might open the doors to Western and Gulf Arab funding.

Even as a third of the country still lies beyond Assad's control, the stirrings of a new rebellion in the southern province of Daraa speak to the potential for a fresh insurgency in areas that have been recaptured by the government.

Assad may be more vulnerable now than at any time in the past nine years of war, says Lina Khatib of the Chatham House think tank in London.

"Assad has become highly reliant on Iranian and Russian support. He does not have the domestic resources to deliver to his constituents. He does not have international legitimacy, and he does not have the military power he had before the conflict," Khatib says. "His toolbox is empty, and he is actually more vulnerable than ever."

A public spat between Assad and his cousin, Rami Makhlouf, is one symptom of the deepening troubles. Makhlouf resorted to Facebook to complain about attempts by the state to confiscate his assets, indicating that he no longer can communicate directly with the president.

In a series of increasingly threatening postings, Makhlouf has made it clear that he won't willingly hand over the more than $US600 million ($911 million) the government says he owes in back taxes and duties. He has hinted at his capacity to wreak havoc on the Syrian economy through his control of a network of companies that employs thousands of Syrians and includes the mighty Syriatel mobile phone network, the nation's biggest company.